Psalms that seem to vindicate vengeance and violence are generally omitted from liturgy, as exemplified in most breviaries used by worshipping communities around the world. Although seldom read, the so-called cursing psalms are known to many as their imprecatory passages pose challenges for readers who wish to use the entire Book of Psalms as their book of prayer. Because passages that call for vengeance and violence are present throughout the psalm collection and often "intertwined with the most exquisite things," as noted by C. S. Lewis, both liturgists and laypeople need to find substantial hermeneutical strategies that can help answer what to make of imprecatory passages. But despite the ample exegetical advice made available through commentary literature, past and present, worshippers are stuck at a point of convergence between exegetical support and liturgical rejection. Through the process of metacommentary on Psalms 58, 109, 137 and 139, Elisabet Nord identifies three popular and generic hermeneutical approaches often applied to cursing psalms, including the tacit preconceived notions of these prominent approaches. The latter helps to uncover the liturgical relevance-and sometimes lack thereof-of scholarly advice on how to interpret and navigate psalms calling for vengeance and violence as prayers.
Elisabet Nord works in the Church of Sweden and holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament Studies from Lund University.
1. Point of Departure Part 1: Pursuing Generic Approaches 2. Psalm 137 2. 1. Approaching the Text 2. 2. Identifying the Strategies 2. 2. 1. Commentaries on the Call for Retribution 2. 2. 2. Commentaries on the Call for Violence 2. 2. 3. Mitigating Response to the Psalm in General 2. 3. Generic Approaches Applicable to Ps 137 2. 3. 1. A Prayer that Submits Vengeance to God 2. 3. 2. Figurative Language 2. 3. 3. A Cry from Below 2. 3. 4. A Longing for Justice 3. Psalm 58 3. 1. Approaching the Text 3. 2. Identifying the Strategies 3. 2. 1. Commentaries on the Call for Violence (vv. 6-9) 3. 2. 2. Commentaries on the Acclamation of Vengeance (v. 10) 3. 2. 3. Mitigating Responses to the Psalm in General 3. 3. Generic Approaches Applicable to Ps 58 3. 3. 1. More 'Justice' than 'Vengeance' 3. 3. 2. A Cry from Below 3. 3. 3. Cathartic Prayer 3. 3. 4. Figurative Language 4. Psalm 109 4. 1. Approaching the Text 4. 2. Identifying the Strategies 4. 2. 1. Commentary Responses to the Call for Vengeance 4. 2. 2. Commentary Responses to the Call for Violence 4. 2. 3. Mitigating Responses to the Psalm in General 4. 3. Generic Approaches Applicable to Ps 109 4. 3. 1. Not a Psalm of Vengeance but of 'Justice' 4. 3. 2. Words with Cathartic Effect 4. 3. 3. A Cry from Below 5. Psalm 139 5. 1. Approaching the Text 5. 2. Identifying the Strategies 5. 2. 1. Mitigating Responses to the Psalm in General 5. 2. 2. Commentaries on the Call for Violence (vv. 19-20) 5. 2. 3. Commentaries on the Call for Hatred (vv. 21-22) 5. 3. Generic Approaches Applicable to Ps 139:19-24 5. 3. 1. A Psalm of 'Justice' 5. 3. 2. A Cathartic Prayer 5. 3. 3. A Circumstantially Motivated Prayer 6. Patterns in the Exegetical Discourse 6. 1. Popular Hermeneutical Approaches 6. 2. Preparations for Part 2 6. 2. 1. Preconceived Notions Uncovered through a 'Meta-commentary' Perspective 6. 2. 2. Pertinence for Liturgy: LOTH as Predominant Example Part 2: Pertinence for Liturgy 7. Psalms of Justice? 7. 1. Substituting 'Vengeance' with 'Justice' 7. 1. 1. Psalms 137 and 58 as Example Texts 7. 2. Philosophical Inputs on the Exegetical Approach 7. 2. 1. Attitudes Towards Revenge, Past and Present 7. 2. 2. Can 'Justice' and 'Vengeance' be Used Interchangeably? 7. 2. 3. Thick Concepts and Thin Agreements 7. 2. 4. Separating Personal and Impersonal Longings 7. 2. 5. A God of Justice or of Vengeance? Theological Implications 7. 2. 6. Conclusions Based on the Philosophical Excursus 7. 3. Praying 'Psalms of Justice'? 7. 3. 1. Prayer as Impersonal Activity? 7. 3. 2. Perhaps a Liturgically Adjusted Translation? 7. 4. The Approach's Pertinence for Liturgy 8. Psalms for the Poor? 8. 1. Mitigating Psalms from a Circumstantial Perspective 8. 1. 1. Psalm 109 as Example Text 8. 2. The Voice of the Poor 8. 2. 1. The Motif of the Poor and Armenfroemmigkeit in Psalms 8. 2. 2. The Approach's Pastoral Appeal 8. 2. 3. Defining 'Poverty' and the Speaker's Identity 8. 2. 4. Revisiting Ps 109 8. 2. 5. Conclusions Based on the Exegetical Evaluation 8. 3. Praying 'From Below'? Introducing the Performative Perspective 8. 3. 1. Vocalizing Scripture with First-Person Pronouns 8. 3. 2. Psalms as 'Appropriation of Speech' 8. 3. 3. Praying 'From Below' in the Presence or on Behalf of Others 8. 3. 4. Prayer Against a 'Faceless' Enemy 8. 3. 5. Conclusions Based on the Liturgical Evaluation 8. 4. The Approach's Pertinence for Liturgy 9. Psalms for Cathartic Prayer? 9. 1. Psalms as Prospects for Catharsis 9. 1. 1. Psalms 139 and 137 as Example Texts 9. 2. Pastoral and Psychological Assumptions 9. 2. 1. Psalms as 'Brutally Honest Prayers' 9. 2. 2. Prayer as Means of Letting Go and Holding Back 9. 2. 3. Conclusions Based on the Psychologically Oriented Evaluation 9. 3. Praying Psalms Cathartically? 9. 3. 1. Prayer and Ethical Formation 9. 3. 2. Psalms and the Hermeneutic of Self-Involvement 9. 3. 3. Psalms Revisited as Performative Texts 9. 3. 4. Distinguishing Violent Speech from Violent Action 9. 3. 5. Conclusions Based on the Liturgical Evaluation 9. 4. The Approach's Pertinence for Liturgy 10: Points of Convergence 10. 1. Problematic Prayers 10. 2. Proposed Solutions 10. 3. Pertinence for Liturgy 10. 4. Preferred Positions and Proposed Improvements 10. 5. Potential Pitfall
